Interactive display devices, such as can be found in entertainment or retail environments, can be implemented with various user interfaces. These interfaces can include at the simplest, a keyboard and/or mouse, and at the more advanced, an integral touchscreen and three-dimensional depth camera systems. A keyboard and mouse are devices that are subject to mechanical damage, and once damaged, prevent to use of the interactive display, which is undesirable, particularly in a retail environment. In addition, a keyboard and mouse are increasingly seen as being unsanitary as multiple individuals interact with these devices in public places.
Touchscreens can impart user interactivity to public digital displays. However, conventional touchscreens encourage physical touching of the screen which is also being increasingly seen as being unsanitary as multiple individuals interact with the touchscreens. Further, conventional touch screens more than double the cost of displays or monitors, particularly in sizes larger than forty inches.
Three-dimensional depth (i.e. time-of-flight or structured light) camera systems have been introduced which can detect the location in a space of objects, such as a user's hand of finger, placed within the camera's field of view. However, due to the conical nature of the observed field of view and the rectangular nature of display screens, blind spots are created, making it necessary to utilize multiple cameras to capture the entire extent of a display screen. This adds hardware and computational requirements which increases complexity and cost to the interactive display. Alternatively, one camera could cover an entire extent of a display screen if it were far removed from the display screen. However, this greatly reduces the locationing ability and accuracy of the camera.
What is needed is a robust, low-cost technique of non-contact interactivity which closely resembles and extends the touch gestures familiar to touchscreen users while not requiring physical contact with the screen while using a single optical sensor.
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The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.